Lead Me Through The Fire
by Stray Sentinel
Summary: When Ty Lee cried for Azula, Mai would drape an arm over her shoulder and mutter about misplaced loyalties. She didn't know - no one knew - that Ty Lee didn't cry for the Princess, but for her best friend. The little girl that faded away without anyone noticing, because there was no one there to see. [A character study of Ty Lee and Azula.]
1. Soul

Disclaimer:_ I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its canon characters._

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**Snapshot One:**

**Soul**

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"I've come for Ty Lee."

The Princess was imperious even then, with a chill in her eyes no child should possess

Ty lee's sisters paled and drew together like prey before a predator as the young princess approached. . Her presence was almost too big for their house, as if she were shaped from the silk and stone of the Fire Nation Palace itself. Ty lee wasn't sure she wanted to be found, not so soon after their stupid little fight. She bit her lip and drew further back into the group; she never thought she would be grateful to be lost in a crowd.

It took less than a moment for Azula to own her soul.

"Well, aren't you coming?" She gestured at Ty lee, her golden eyes narrowing with impatience, and turned without waiting for an answer.

A command disguised as a question. She fell in step instinctively, her body moving almost before she made a conscious decision. Ty Lee toyed with the tip of her braid, hoping heat spreading across her cheeks wasn't obvious. "You… you knew it was me."

The look Azula cast over her shoulder was one Ty Lee would become well acquainted with, scathing but not quite angry.

"Of course."


	2. Smoke

**TW: Implied abuse**

Disclaimer:_ I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its canon characters. _

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**Snapshot Two:**

**Smoke**

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It was a song and dance she knew well. The hall was completely deserted, lending the raised ceilings, dark woods and red silks that the fire nation favored an oppressive air. Flames burned low on their candles and spat curls of black, waxy smoke, as if some invisible weight were smothering them. Her steps echoed off the walls and the polished floor in a way that only made the silence more evident - she didn't even see any servants.

Ty Lee slipped cautiously into Azula's darkened room. "Princess…?"

She could see a form huddled against the opposite wall, just under the heavily curtained bay windows. The other child was almost lost in the shadows, and it was only through force of will Ty Lee stepped deeper into the dark. It felt like an eternity before she finally knelt at Azula's side. The young princess was unkempt and soaked with sweat , still in her wrinkled training clothes. Ty Lee reached out to rest her hand on a slim shoulder.

"'Zula-"

Her wrist was caught in Azula's grip. "Don't."

Azula's loose shirt sleeves slipped to her elbow, revealing a wrist and arm mottled with red and lifted her chin defiantly under Ty Lee's helpless gaze.

"I lost control of a bending form." Her eyes were dry and full of a burning pride. _How dare you pity me! _She seemed to hiss with every angry movement. There was only one reason Azula ever 'lost control' of fire.

Ty Lee dared to settle at the other's girl's side, careful not to sit too close and get stuck by the bristling porcupine-frog that was her best friend. Her stomach churned with shared suffering and the crushing knowlege that there was nothing she could do to help. If Azula - a bending prodigy, princess of the Fire Nation - couldn't protect herself, what could Ty Lee do? After a moment those fierce golden eyes softened just a touch. It was a weakness reserved for these moments in the dark, where no one but Ty Lee could see the questions and doubts crowding to the surface. _Am I really worthless? Am I weak? Am I stupid?_

_…Please, someone love me._

Ty Lee knew, because they were the questions Azula answered for her.

Suddenly Azula buried her face in her knees, her voice muffled in her folded arms. "I must perfect this form before grandfather comes to visit."

"It's okay," Ty Lee's knuckles brushed Azula's cheek. Gently, gently, as if she were a nervous eelhound. It was a weak comfort, but the best she could offer and all Azula would accept. "You're the strongest, smartest, prettiest girl I know. You can do it."

This was their little secret. Ty Lee would never tell.


	3. Devotion - Sacrifice

**TW: Implied animal abuse**

Disclaimer:_ I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its canon characters._

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**Snapshot Three:**

**Devotion/Sacrifice**

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In the old days gods required sacrifices of blood and fire to stay their wrath…

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_To fully understand Azula, you had to understand her loyalty to her father._

_Most children had a point in their lives where they believed that their parents were infallible. Azula never grew out of that phase, and Ozai encouraged the attitude. Her devotion to her father was the same love, fear, and reverence some people directed towards the gods and spirits._

_Ozai was a cruel god. He demended sacrifice, he demanded the rending of body and soul to fit his image of perfection. If she failed she was worthless. Not worthy of breathing, not worthy of being. Should she succeed, there would be no praise forthcoming. It was simply what was expected._

_It was no surprise that she broke after she realized he never loved her. He destroyed the child Azula and reformed her as a brilliant weapon. She was his creature; an engine of war whose purpose was gone with his victory. Wouldn't anyone break, spurned by their creator and object of worship?_

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The turtleduckling peeped cheerfully and wriggled in Ty Lee's hands. The girl giggled and bounced. "Isn't it adorable?" The sun set the palace garden alight and all the flowers were blooming in a riot of color. The climbing vines saturated the air with heavy perfume.

"I suppose," Came the answer from the shadow of a nearby tree. The preteen didn't look up from her scroll. Azula had been in a sour mood all week, and even Ty Lee's best efforts did nothing to help. She was almost as bad as Mai lately.

Azula glanced up to gauge the position of the sun. "Shouldn't you be going now? I'm sure your parents are missing you terribly."

Ty Lee's flinch almost immediately turned into a pout. She wasn't sure what she had done to deserve the jab, but the princess rarely needed a reason. She released the turtleduckling into the water and wiped her hands on the grass, watching the Princess out of the corner of her eyes.

A dismissive wave. "Run along, Ty Lee. If you don't want to go home go play with Mai or something."

"Um... okay… See you later, Azula!"

Azula waited until the young acrobat was gone before setting the scroll aside and kneeling, her eyes fixed on her boots. "My lord father."

"Daughter." Ozai emerged from the shadow of a nearby doorway, his narrowed eyes lingering on the corridor where Ty Lee disappeared. He was clad in the ornate red and black robes of the fire lord, like a spot of burning amongst the green of spring.

After a long silence the princess lifted her face. Ozai had scooped one of the turtleducklings out of the water, and was watching its struggles dispassionately. She flinched – just slightly – at the sound of his voice.

"You may rise."

He extended the frantic creature. "Burn it."

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His hand was heavy on her shoulder, holding her in the shadows. She wasn't sure how he timed it, but just as she finished Zuko, Ty Lee, and Mai's shouts echoed through the garden. From her observation point she could see Ty Lee drop to her knees sobbing. Mai stood shock still next to an equally paralyzed Zuzu.

The smell of burning feathers and flesh was still strong in her nose. The garden was short a clutch of turtleducks.

"Do you see them?" His voice was a low growl. "Explain."

Azula didn't dare falter, and mercifully the words came almost without prompting. "Weak. They cling to petty affection and trivial morality. They are too easily moved by emotion, and thus their judgment is flawed."

"Very good." His pat on her shoulder was a shade too rough to be truly affectionate. "…Very good."

The warm glow of accomplishment - praise from Father was rare indeed - was enough to snuff her guilt at Ty Lee's tears.


	4. Like Ink

Disclaimer:_ I do not own Avatar: The Last Airbender or any of its canon characters._

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**Snapshot Three:**

**Like Ink**

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Ty Lee dreamed of freedom.

Hers was the wordless torment of a bird caged before an open window. Her desire for the world beyond the walls of the Fire Nation capitol was a hunger, and she spent more time over scrolls of foreign countries than anyone but Azula and Mai could ever guess. No matter what the academy liked to say, the world beyond the Fire Nation was brilliant and strange, and Ty Lee would give anything to see every last inch. From the ice floes of the Water Tribes to the mountains and valleys of the Earth Kingdom, the scrolls buried in the depths of the palace library spoke of a greatness that was vastly different from the austere halls of the Palace.

Ty Lee knew better than to tell the other girl about her plans. Time built up a distance between them, along with the chill perfection the princess wore like a cloak. Over the years Azula become colder, more calculating. Her childish cruelty refined into a weapon that held her subjects in her thrall like turtleducks under the eyes of a reincobra.

Still, she left a note under Azula's calligraphy set to be found before her lessons. Maybe her friend would forgive her for leaving without saying good bye. Someday. She stood in front of her open window, a bag clutched in her hand and a deep sadness in her heart.

"You're leaving."

The voice at Ty Lee's back struck her shock still. _How did she…?_

"A-azula? I…"

A soft chuckle. "You're not nearly as sneaky as you think you are, Ty Lee."

She didn't sound angry… not that it meant anything with Azula. Ty Lee turned to face her princess, certain that she would be ordered to abandon her foolish notions and stay. Azula was in her fitted red robe, long hair hanging loose around her face and her makeup washed away. There were splatters of black on her feet and calves, as if… _as if she'd dropped a bottle of ink._

With only the faint light of the moon to define her features, Azula's expression was unreadable. A hand with nails like claws hovered briefly over Ty lee's shoulder, and finally withdrew without touching.

"The sentries on the wall to the north are almost always asleep."

That was as close to a blessing as she was going to get. She threw her arms around the other girl, laughing softly when Azula went stiff as a board.

"Thank you… for everything."

She smelled like clean, bright smoke and the exotic oils she liked in her bath water.

Azula allowed her another moment, then pushed her away gently. That night would remain etched in her memory. The smell of incense and summer fire-lilies, and the way the humidity made her clothes cling sticky to her skin. It marked the moment she completely failed Azula. The princess was becoming colder and more frightening every day, and they didn't share those quiet moments they did when they were children. Surely the princess didn't need an annoying, bright pink shadow on her heels. She wasn't a little girl anymore, wrapping herself in the dark so no one could see her cry.

That was the greatest blow of all; that she was fooled by that perfect mask even for a moment.

That's what she told herself, but she was just… so tired. Tired of holding a shattered person together and exhausted by the idea of a lifetime of humiliation and thinly veiled threats. Azula was moving beyond her reach. There was nothing more she could do! She couldn't stand by and watch anymore - she couldn't.

"Disgustingly sentimental, as usual." There was no real venom in her voice, and those golden eyes remained focused on a place just over her right shoulder. "You should go." _Leave. Now._

It was many years before they met again.

When Ty Lee cried for Azula, Mai would drape an arm over her shoulder and mutter about misplaced loyalties. She didn't know - no one knew - that Ty Lee didn't cry for the Princess, but for her best friend. The little girl that faded away without anyone noticing, because there was no one there to see.


End file.
